Beginning July 1st, Florida Statute 83.683 requires that landlords who require a rental application as part of the approval process to rent out a property, must complete the processing of said application within seven days from submission when the applicant is an active service member and must notify the prospective tenant whether approval or denial is issued. If the landlord fails to provide an approval or denial within the specified time frame, then Florida law requires that the landlord leases the property to the applicant, provided that all other lease and application provisions are met.

This new law applies not only to individual landlords, but also to condominium associations, cooperative associations and homeowners associations.